Farmers speed up rice improvement in Ghana. Validated RNRRS Output.

Contents

Abstract

This is one of 280 summaries describing key outputs from the projects
run by DFID's 10-year Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy
(RNRRS) programmes.

Summary for Project titles: R6826: Testing drought-tolerant plant types
of upland rice in Ghana using participatory methods and R7657:
Participatory rice variety improvement in Ghana II.
Involving farmers in testing improved varieties of rice has proved very
successful. The time it takes for new varieties to be released falls
from 15 to 5 years. Booming demand for rice in Africa has fuelled
imports. But domestic producers have been going out of business because
the traditional African or old varieties they grow perform poorly and
are not liked by consumers. In Ghana, a pilot project showed that
involving farmers speeds the spread of new varieties. The varieties that
farmers chose were being grown up to 100 kilometres away within a year.
And because farmers are getting better harvests, larger areas are
planted to rice. Involving farmers in testing new varieties has great
potential for many crops and is already being used for groundnuts,
sorghum, cotton and cassava.

The CD has the following information for this output: Description,
Validation, Current Situation, Current Promotion, Impacts On Poverty,
Environmental Impact. Attached PDF (14 pp.) taken from the CD.

Citation

PSP06, New technologies, new processes, new policies: tried-and-tested and ready-to-use results from DFID-funded research, Research Into Use Programme, Aylesford, Kent, UK, ISBN 978-0-9552595-6-2, p 30.